


The Seatmate From Hell

by Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mile High Club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 07:04:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9645566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw/pseuds/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw
Summary: "You must be my seatmate!""Must I, cupcake?"***In which Laura and Carmilla meet through the contrivance of sharing adjacent seats on an airplane.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Additional discussion of potential trigger warnings below.

“For the last time, Danny, I’ll be fine. Yes, I know it’s a fifteen-hour flight. I have plenty of snacks and a whole season of Veronica Mars on my tablet. Anyway, I’m on the plane now; gotta go!” Laura felt a little bit bad about the fib--technically she didn’t have to turn her phone off until the flight attendants signaled the passengers to do so. But there was only so much Danny Lawrence she could take sometimes. 35, 36, 37B. She looked down at the occupant of 37A: pale skin, dark hair, tank top, and black leggings. “You must be my seatmate.”

“Must I, cupcake?” She flicked her eyes up from her e-reader.

“Whatever,” Laura muttered, and slung her carry-on under the seat. “I’m Laura,” she offers. 

37A boggled at her. “You really are serious about the whole chipper thing, aren’t you? Fine. My name’s Carmilla. Nice to meet you, Laura. At least you won’t take up too much room.” Laura tried to take heart from the tepid compliment. “So, who’s Danny?” Carmilla leaned back in the tiny seat. “Overprotective boyfriend?”

“Overprotective ex-girlfriend.” Was that a flicker of interest she saw in Carmilla’s eyes? “We’re still friends, but that’s all.”

“And that’s why you’re flying all the way from Berlin to San Francisco?” Carmilla drawled, making Laura scowl. “Sounds like it was some breakup.”

“No, it wasn’t a big deal, and it was a while ago. It’s just...sometimes you need a fresh start.”

To her surprise, Carmilla looked wistfully at the seat-back ahead of her. “I know what you mean.” 

Laura forced a laugh. “God, look at us. We’ve got to be the two youngest people having a midlife crisis in the history of ever.”

“You might be surprised, cutie.”

Any further comment was cut off by the pre-flight announcements. Laura giggled at the video; Carmilla rolled her eyes before burrowing back into what she was reading.

Laura shrugged. Can’t reach ‘em all, she thought, and tucked her yellow neck pillow into place as the lights dimmed.

***

*click*

Laura opened one eye, then the other. “Really?”

“My e-reader doesn’t have a backlight,” Carmilla said, as if this explained why anyone would use the overhead light on a fifteen-hour flight that left at 9:30 pm.

“I’m trying to sleep,” Laura gritted out. “And the elastic on my eyemask gave out when I tried to put it on.”

“Sorry, cupcake. Scarf?” Laura snatched the proffered blindfold with ill grace, and was about to tie it on when the flight attendant came by with the drinks cart. 

“Grape soda, please.” Carmilla looked aghast at her over her sparkling water. “What?”

“Nothing, creampuff.” She leaned in closer; close enough that Laura could feel the other woman’s breath on her ear, warm, flirty. (Flirty?!) “But how about the drinks girl, huh?”

“What about her?” Laura asked, taking another sip of her drink with forced calm, as if she didn’t know exactly what Carmilla meant, an act that became impossible to maintain as the brunette raised an eyebrow suggestively. 

Laura rolled her eyes and punched up episode one. 

***

Laura had gotten halfway through episode three when the soda caught up with her. She took off her earbuds, realized Carmilla was snoring, and got up in a huff. Goshdarnit, she thought as she reached the lavatory, I can’t even make eye contact with the flight attendant anymore. 

Three minutes later she realized her bright yellow pillow wasn’t on her seat where she left it. Or out in the aisle, or under her seat. She briefly considered asking the flight attendant for help. Then she decided there was no way she could get through asking the beautiful woman to help her track down her missing pillow with a straight face, which meant there was no way it wouldn’t sound like an innuendo. She looked over at Carmilla with a sigh. Well, at least the world’s worst seatmate wasn’t at fault for that; the girl was still sleeping like a log, curled against the side of the cabin, shoes kicked off, tank top so thin that Laura could see the lines of her bra--

“Excuse me, miss.” 

“S-sorry!” Laura stammered, ducking into her seat to let the older gentleman pass. Sighing with resignation, she dug in the seat-back compartment for the crummy free airline pillow and made do best she could, wrapping her flannel shirt around it for added coziness and trying not to feel too underdressed in a camisole and sweatpants. Only another...she checked her watch...nine hours.

***

The next time Laura woke up it was to a strange but not unpleasant warm weight on her left shoulder. Mmm… Draped across most of her body, come to think of it. She pulled Carmilla’s scarf from her eyes and was surprised to see her seatmate sleeping against her. “Carmilla,” she whispered, trying to ignore the view of the girl’s cleavage.

“Ehh?..” Carmilla awoke, frowning. “Oh. Yeah, I guess I move around in my sleep.” A flash of yellow as she shifted position caught Laura’s eye.

“You stole my pillow!”

“Huh?” Laura grabbed the item in question. “Oh, yeah.” Carmilla shrugged. “Like I said, I move around in my sleep.” She was about to close her eyes when Laura coughed an ‘ahem.’ “What?”

“An apology would be nice.”

“God, I’m sorry I stole your stupid pillow. Happy?” She glared at Laura until she nodded. “And to think I loaned you a scarf. Of course,” she purred, “it looks good on you.”

“And this is where you say it would look better off of me.”

“Nope.” Carmilla popped the ‘p,’ then whispered, low and husky, “this is where I say it would better tying you to a bedpost.” One effortless finger traced a line down Laura’s arm. 

Laura’s breath stuttered. Seriously, how did Carmilla manage to look so languid, so sexy, in coach seats? Poop, Laura thought. Worst. Crush. Ever. 

Carmilla was evidently waiting for a response, because she blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll lean against the wall, and you can lean up against me. You can even put up the armrest. How’s that for making amends?” 

“Uh, yeah. Okay.” Laura’s pulse was racing. Somehow, her eyelids closed anyway, fluttering against Carmilla’s bare arm.

***

The next time Laura left that twisted half-sleep only possible on airliners, she was mortified to discover that she had a handful of a stranger’s breast...and that said stranger’s arm was twined with hers, locking it in place. “Ohmygosh, I’m so sorry.” 

“What the hell, pop-tart?” Carmilla grumbled. “I was just getting comfortable. Shh.” Laura coughed awkwardly in the direction of Carmilla’s chest. “You know, I usually make girls buy me a drink first. But I wouldn’t make you pay jacked-up airplane prices.” 

“Aaargh,” Laura hissed. “Seriously, how do you go from asleep to sexy flirty master in the blink of an eye?” She really tries to ignore the stiffening nipple under the pad of her thumb.

“Sexy flirty master, huh? You need to up your pick-up line game, shortcake.” Carmilla ran her tongue over her lip, and that was the last straw for Laura, who promptly lunged into a kiss. “Or not. I can work with not.”

“Wait,” Laura pulled back as Carmilla closed for a second kiss. “Just...wait. I mean, we hardly know each other. And I don’t want either of us to regret this trip.”

“Exactly, sugarplum. Which is why I don’t want to regret missing out on the six hours of kissing and awkward petting under an airline blanket ahead of us.”

Laura broke the kiss reluctantly. “Just...humor me, okay? Give me an hour of getting to know each other at least, okay? Because I really, really want to do really naughty things with you, but I don’t want us to be strangers, okay?”

“Sure, have it your way,” Carmilla deadpanned, but Laura didn’t trust her. 

“No questions about ex-girlfriends, okay?” Laura added.

“I wasn’t the one who wanted to ask any questions,” Carmilla reminded her, toying with the strap of her cami. “But sure, I won’t ask about Danny if you don’t ask about Elle.”

“Who?” Laura blurted out before her brain could stop her. “Sorry, sorry.” She cast about for a subject change that wouldn’t be too obvious. “So, um, San Francisco, huh?”

“Sometimes, you just need a fresh start. What about you?”

“I got pointed to an indie magazine that needed another reporter by an alum. So, um, here I am.”

They spent the next hour learning various facts about one another: Carmilla’s favorite color was red, and Laura’s favorite TV show was Doctor Who. Followed by a frantic fifteen minutes of learning other important facts about one another: Carmilla’s panties were also red, and that Laura was now sufficiently bigger on the inside to handle three of Carmilla’s fingers.

“Ahem!” began the embarrassingly attractive flight attendant, causing Laura to go the same shade as Carmilla’s knickers.

Carmilla interrupted the other woman by fixing her with a stare, then turning and ogling Laura, then turning back to the flight attendant with a smirk. “Like you wouldn’t?” She grabbed Laura by the hand and led her back to their seats.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Laura hissed.

“What are they going to do, kick us off the plane?” Carmilla snorted. “They never have before.” Laura’s eyes widened, and Carmilla slouched, almost embarrassed, back into her seat. “Tell me that wasn’t your first time in an airplane?” She raised a hand as Laura stammered and fumbled. “Welcome to the club, cutie.”

“Um, thanks?” She high-fived her back, and leaned into Carmilla’s touch. The dull roar of the jet engines was the only noise as she stared into the blank plastic of the seat-back ahead of her. “I, um, may not have been entirely truthful about why I’m moving to San Fran.” Her fingers laced and knotted together in her lap. It seemed wrong, somehow, to have lied to someone who she had shared even a quick and dirty orgasm.

“Nope.”

“What?”

“You’re going to relate your overblown past, which is dreadfully tragic to you, and force me to listen to you for the whole thing, and say things like ‘there, there, dearie’ in an insincere voice, and then we’ll sit around awkwardly for an hour, and then you’ll somehow winkle some deep dark secret out of me and I won’t be able to resist because..” Carmilla’s jetlagged brain finally caught up with what her mouth was saying. “...I’m totally sleep-drunk. Damn planes. Oh my God,” Carmilla groaned as Laura pouted. “Nobody should have such effective kicked-puppy eyes. Fine, go ahead, but I’m getting actually drunk to go with my sleep-drunkenness.” She rummaged around in her bag. “I got this at the duty-free store. Didn’t think I would need the emergency liquor just yet but this is clearly a code-red emergency. Buckle up, creampuff. We’re in for a long night and,” she checked her watch, “it’s Wednesday afternoon.”

Laura took a pull, grimaced, and began to talk.

“...so, after my mother passed away, my dad became super-over-protective, which, is fair, especially because he is my dad, and I’m an only child.” Laura paused for breath. “And that was kind of okay. And then I met Danny, and she was really great at fist, um, first.” Totally just red-faced because of the alcohol, nothing to see here. “But then she got kind of controlling and not in a fun way.” She slumped back into her seat. “I could have gotten an internship closer to home. Maybe even a better internship.”

“But this was your first chance to cut the cord, so you took it?” Carmilla guessed. Laura nodded glumly. “And now you're worried that you’ve ruined your life by leaving behind everything you’ve ever known, everything you thought your world could contain, people you loved, people who raised you, and all so that you can ‘be yourself’ when you don’t even know who that person is yet?” Laura looked at her, astonished. “Guess we’re more alike than I thought, cutie.”

“Wait, what?” Laura asked as Carmilla merely reclined. “Carm, you can’t just say something like that and then cliffhanger me!”

“Can and did, cinnamon roll. And I’m ready for the puppy-dog eyes this time.” 

Carmilla was wrong. She was not ready for how dejected and disappointed Laura Hollis could look. It took her a good twenty minutes of assorted badgering, wheedling, bargaining, and pleading, but finally the fire went out. “Fine, then.”

“What?” Carmilla asked, trying desperately to remain disaffected. 

Laura waved her hand limply between the two of them. “I thought we had something; now I don’t know if there was ever even an us to begin with.”

“Hey.” Carmilla moved to kiss Laura, who rolled stubbornly onto her side, leaving Carmilla’s lips to awkwardly graze her ear. I can work with that, Carmilla thought. “Fine,” she whispered. “I’ll tell you my deep, dark, secret.” She punctuated each word with a tender kiss to Laura’s neck. 

“Really?”

“Just promise you won’t do something idiotic like videotape yourself talking about it and broadcast it to the entire internet.”

“I would never consider such a thing.” 

“Elle was my girlfriend. My mother and brother were very homophobic. I’ll spare you the sordid details but at the end of the day they bullied Elle to the point where she slit her wrists.” (“Oh my God,” Laura whispered.) A short bark of a laugh. “Not me. Me they thought they could ‘save.’ But sweet, innocent Elle. Fuck. I wish it had been me. Not bleeding out. ( _Fuck, so much blood in her skinny arms; how? Elle? No…_ ) But I could have handled it. I could have stopped giving a shit about anything but her, and I could have handled it.”

“I don’t think I could do that.”

“I did anyway.” Carmilla took another plug of the liqueur. “Anyway, Styria has really tough cyber-bullying laws, and they were idiots enough to leave traceable evidence. So they’re both in jail for manslaughter. My older sister travels a lot and I never knew my father, so there really wasn’t anything for me there. Took my trust fund and ran.”

“I...I’m so sorry.” Usually she was better at talking; what the hell was there to say?

“Don’t be--you’ve been the best thing that’s happened to me since then.” She smiled at Laura. 

“Uh, thanks?” Laura’s nose wrinkled; Carmilla couldn’t help herself, and she planted a kiss on the tip. “I mean, I’m glad I’m the best thing since you ran away from home, your girlfriend killed herself, and your family got arrested for driving her to suicide. But that isn’t really a high bar to clear. Not to be crass or anything. Sorry.” She wriggled around in her seat so she was facing Carmilla and took her hands, lacing their fingers together. “I feel like my deep, dark secret was kind of lame by comparison.”

It’s Carmilla’s turn to snort. “Oh no, you don’t have a tragic backstory. You poor naive provincial. Don’t worry about it.”

“Sorry,” Laura can’t help but echo.

“Do I have to spell it out with sock puppets? I don’t want your pity, and I don’t need your love. I’m just fine on my own.” It killed her to see what that statement did to Laura.

“No.” Now it was Carmilla’s turn to be stunned. “You are not fine by yourself. Nobody is. Sure, maybe we both needed to get out of bad situations, and, okay, your situation was, like, way worse, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find decent people to be with.” Carmilla looked down, realized Laura was clasping her hands tight. “People like each other.” Fuck it, she thought, and kissed the tiny girl again.

Eternities drifted past the tiny window until their lips parted. “So that’s it, huh? True love with the girl you met on an airplane?” 

“Why not?” Laura asked. “Why is that any weirder than meeting at a concert, or as college roommates, or fifty other crazy ways people could meet?” Laura drew herself up as best she could in the cramped seat. “We’ve shared life stories, we can coexist in small spaces, we’re, erm, sexually compatible, not that that’s everything…” She cast about for inspiration. “We both like peppermint schnapps?” She held up the half-empty bottle weakly, finally causing Carmilla’s mask to crack.

“Okay, cutie,” Carmilla promised. “Four more hours together. Then San Francisco and the rest of our lives.”

“Okay.” Laura agreed.

“One last secret?” Carmilla whispered. “But promise me you won’t think any less of me? I have a hardass yet mysterious reputation to maintain.”

Laura quirked an eyebrow, but no explanation was forthcoming. “Yeah, okay. Pinkie promise.” She extended the digit in question with great solemnity. Carmilla took it with mock dignity, causing Laura no little frustration.

“First, you’re so cute when you’re angry. Second…” She leaned in close. “I think I knew from the first time I saw you that I was going to love you.”

“Carm?” The dark-haired girl looked at her, head cocked to one side. “You’re such a softy.” She pulled a frown. “Love you.” Laura tucked comfortably against her.

“Love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU, Elle kills herself by slitting her wrists in response to homophobic bullying. Is mentioned briefly, and Carmilla has a very brief flashback. Not graphic.
> 
> In other news, don't bully people. 
> 
> Laura's mother's death is also referenced.


End file.
